A prolific thief has been jailed after being caught on camera trying car door handles to steal cash.

Wayne Kiely, of Springfield Road in Plymouth, appeared at Plymouth Magistrates Court to face a number of charges relating to incidents in the new Saltram Meadow development in Plymstock.

The court heard how the 43-year-old was arrested by police after footage of Kiely posted on social media by an angry resident whose CCTV camera picked him up trying car door handles in their street.

Kiely was identified and tracked down by officers.

As a result he was charged with theft on May 4 of £86 from a vehicle and on his arrest on May 8 charged with possession of 1.3gm cannabis.

In addition, Kiely was charged with breaching a suspended sentence order from 2017, which related to two counts of theft.

Wayne Kiely was caught red handed

Magistrates jailed Kiely to six weeks for the theft on May 4 to run consecutive with his sentence for the 2017 offences, bringing his total sentence to 14 weeks.

Kiely was also ordered to pay compensation of £86 to his victim and a victim surcharge of £29.

A police spokesman said: “We know that a lot of thefts from cars, where the car has been left insecure, is under-reported. Often people are not even aware their money has been stolen from their vehicles until much later.

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“We would urge anyone who believes their vehicles have been targeted to call police.

“In this case a neighbour had posted the CCTV footage on social media which showed Kiely trying car door handles.

“The neighbour’s car was opened and money was taken and thankfully investigators spotted the footage, identified the suspect, arrested and charged him.

Police recorded a spate of incidents where unlocked cars were entered and cash and electrical goods were taken

“We would strongly urge people to call police on 101 or email 101@dc.police.uk if they are victims of such incidents”.

Last December Det Sgt Jon Manning told The Herald police were aware of a spate of incidents in Elburton and Plymstock which saw the areas specifically targeted by the city’s criminal element because it was believed those areas were seen as soft targets with relatively high rewards.

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He told The Herald: “You may believe you live in an area of the city which is relatively crime free, however you still have to think about crime prevention and act upon it.

“It is easy to forget to lock your car or forget to remove valuables from being on show in your vehicle, or to allow yourself to become complacent because you live in an area where you think that these kinds of thefts don’t occur.

“Criminals count upon this mindset and are taking advantage of it.

“We know vehicles in Elburton and other parts of Plymstock are being targeted in the very early hours of the morning, that the suspects are going onto people’s driveways and checking handles.

“Once inside they take any loose cash on show, any electrical items like sat navs, mobile phone which have been left behind.

“Please remove cash and items from show. Make sure you lock your cars and we strongly endorse the use of CCTV.”

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